The present invention relates generally to climbing tree stands for use by sportsmen. More particularly, the present invention concerns a climbing tree stand having a reversible detachable seat assembly.
Tree stands in general, and climbing tree stands in particular are known which provide portable and elevatable observations platforms for sportsmen for photography, hunting, and elevated observation of wild life in its natural habitat. Generally, some sort of seat arrangement is provided on the tree stand to permit the sportsman to assume a seated posture which is plainly more comfortable than standing for long periods. Ordinarily, the known seat arrangements dictate whether the sportsman will face the tree or vertical support or face away from the tree or vertical support.
When climbing a tree, a seat facing the tree is advantageous since it can be used by the sportsman to ease the physical effort involved in jacking the stand up the tree. On the other hand, when in the elevated position, it is advantageous to face away from the tree since the tree itself tends to obstruct the field of view. There is, therefore, a tension between the two seat possible seat orientations that must be settled by the designer of the climbing tree stand. Moreover, when the orientation is selected, the sportsman generally has little opportunity to change the orientation. Even in those arrangements where a sportsman or user can change the seat orientation, it is ordinarily necessary to disassemble the seat from the tree stand so that the seat orientation can be changed. If that task is effected in the elevated position, there is considerable risk that fasteners or parts of the seat can fall to the ground, with the possibility that small parts are lost, and with the result that reattachment of the seat is difficult if not impossible until the missing parts are retrieved.
For example, in one known device, the seat comprises a board which is attached to a frame by bolts and wing nuts. To move the seat to a different position on the frame, the bolts and wing nuts must be disassembled at one position and reassembled in a new position. When done at an elevated location, it is very easy to drop either the bolts or the wing nuts, or both. Should the seat still be used, without proper fastening, then there is a risk of injury to the sportsman or user.
In another known arrangement, a seat is fashioned from a mesh fabric and slidably attached to sides of a frame. To move the seat from one position to another, that is adjacent to the tree or remote from the tree, the sportsman or user must step up over the mesh and reposition the seat. Stepping over an elevated seat, at an elevated location, creates an awkward and potentially unsave situation--a situation which can be exacerbated when the sportsman also has binoculars and/or a firearm on the elevated platform.
A climbing tree stand which overcomes problems with the prior art devices includes a body-support assembly and foot-support assembly. The body-support assembly includes a tubular support frame and a detachable, reversible seat assembly which is removable from the tubular support frame without removal of fasteners. The tubular support frame includes a U-shaped portion which is generally planar and having a tree-engaging assembly at one end. The seat assembly is positioned at a second end of the U-shaped portion of the support frame. Furthermore, the seat assembly includes a seat bottom, a seat back attached to the seat bottom, and a pair of flexible straps which suspend the seat bottom from generally parallel sides of the tubular support frame. The flexible straps are attached to a steel hook provided for attachment to each side of the tubular frame structure.
At the first end of that tubular frame structure, a tree-engaging arrangement is provided. That tree-engaging arrangement includes a pair of generally parallel arms that extend from the planar portion of the frame structure so as to straddle the vertical support. Those arms are inclined upwardly in the direction away from the U-shaped frame structure. A locking bar is adjustably connected to the arms and extends between the arms so that the tree is positioned within the perimeter of the frame structure. In addition, the tree-engaging arrangement includes an abutment assembly that extends below the plane of the tubular frame so as to engage the tree at a position below the plane of the frame structure. Thus, a knee-accommodating space is defined below the plane of the seat assembly, the space extending from the seat assembly to the tree and being free of obstructions.
Cooperating with the body-support assembly is a foot-support assembly. Ordinarily, the foot-support assembly is disposed below the body-support assembly. Here, the foot-support assembly includes a tubular frame having a first and second ends, a tree-engaging portion being located at the first end. The foot-support assembly is described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,505, which is incorporated herein by this reference thereto. For convenient reference, the frame has a foot-support platform at the second end thereof, the foot-support platform defining a second generally horizontal plane. The tree-engaging portion of the foot-support assembly includes a pair of arms extending upwardly above the second horizontal plane so as to embrace the tree at a location above the second generally horizontal plane. In addition, the tree-engaging portion of the foot-support assembly has an abutment member positioned below the second horizontal plane.
By positioning the tree-engaging supports both above and below the generally horizontal plane of the body supporting assembly and the foot-support assembly, respectively, the supporting members are subjected to both compressive, tensile and bending forces. As a result, the combined stresses acting on the members more efficiently use material properties than structures which only subject such members to tension or compression. As a consequence, the resulting tree stand can be fabricated from steel and still be as light as a tree stand fashioned from aluminum. Furthermore by locating the abutment member below the corresponding horizontal plane, greater clearance is provided for the sportsman's knees and legs in the space between the seat and the tree.
Making the present design from steel allows the vertical spacing between the upper latch bar and lower abutment to be smaller than in the case of an aluminum design. That smaller vertical spacing is accomplished due to the material properties and further contributes to a lighter weight design than is results from an aluminum construction.
To enhance the sportsman's comfort while using the climbing tree stand, the frame structure of the body-support unit includes a transverse member which can also function as a back support bar. When the seat assembly is positioned so as to face the tree, the generally vertically extending seat back portion can rest against the transverse member. That seat back portion can be suitably padded between the user's back and the transverse back support portion of the body-support frame.
The seat assembly is attached to the body-support frame using steel hooks. Each hook is preferably coated with plastic material and is fabricated from round bar stock. The plastic coating may have a nominal thickness of about 0.050". The coating is effective to eliminate any artificial or extraneous noise from the metal hook wiggling, or otherwise intermittently contacting the metal frame. Such noise might startle, or otherwise alert game or wildlife being observed while changing the seat from the inward or tree-facing position to the outward or tree-backed seating position. This adjustment is accomplished without the use of threaded fasteners or pins to prevent the hook from becoming disengaged with the body-support frame tubing. The hooks can be arranged such that a four separate connections (one on each end of the two seat supporting straps) attach the seat assembly to the body support frame. Alternatively, two hooks may be used, each hook connected to both straps, one hook being provided on each side of the seat assembly. An intermediately extending span of the steel wire material permits the ends of the straps to be laterally spaced from one another. In the two hook arrangement, each end of the seat support strap is connected to its adjacent seat support hook. The hooks are then attached to the corresponding side of the body-support frame tubing.